Automatic feed for fibers and the like.



M. E. RYAN.

AUTOMATIC FEED FOR FIBERS AND THE LIKE.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. 18, 1912. 1,074,468, Patented Sept. 30, 1913.

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IVIICHAEL EMME'I RYAN, OF FALL RIVER, MASSACHUSETTS.

AUTOMATIC FEED FOR FIBERS AND THE 1 Specification of Letters Patent.

Application filed March 18, 1912. Serial No. 684,586.

Patented Sept. 30, 1913.

T0 aZZ whom it may conoemlr I Be it known that-I, MICHAEL EMMET RYAN, acitizen of the United States, residing at Fall River, county of Bristol,C0mmonwealth of Massachusetts, have invented .certain new and usefulImprovements in Automatic Feeds for Fibers and the like, of which thefollowing is a specification.

This invention relates to machines for conveying finely dividedmaterial, and especially material of'a fibrous nature, such as hair,fur, fur fiber, lint, and the like. In handling such material by almostany device, thereis apt to be-a certain amount of loose fiber which isdropped on the way through the machine to the point of finaldestination.

It is the object of my present invention, therefore, to provide amachine in which the conveying of the material will be accomplished insuch a manner that the dropping tendency will be eliminated as far aspossible and wholly corrected so that all material will be ultimatelydelivered at the point desired.

The. principles of myqinvention will: be

more fully described in the specification which follows. have shown inthe drawings and shall clescribe in the specification a form of devicewhich I have found well adapted to prac-.

tical use.

Throughout specification and drawings like reference numerals areemployed to indicatecorresponding parts, and in the draw- 1ngs:

Figure 1 is a central section of a machine embodying the principles ofmy invention,

and Fig. 2 is a plan view of that portion particularly relating to myimprovements.

My machine, as illustrated, comprises a hop-per 1, the upper part ofwhich is of usual form, in which the material, such as clipped fur, isdeposited. The hopper is so shaped as to deliver the material against anendless picker belt 2 which runs on rolls 8 and 4 which are suitablyoperated to run the belt in the direction of the arrow up through thehopper 1.

The belt is provided withinclined teeth 2 which engage the material tocarry it over the upper roll 4: from which it is dofi'ed by a stripper 5having suitable teeth 5 From this stripper the material falls down overan inclined shelf 15 on to a conveyer 6. This conveyer comprises anendless belt run- As illustrative thereof, I

ning on rolls 16 and 17 which are suitably driven to'operate the belt inthe direction of the arrow.

The conveyer 6 delivers the material to a pair of corrugated rolls 7under which is a brush Swhich is rapidly revolved by a belt 18 driven bya drum 19. This brush 8 runs at high speed and throws out by centrifugalaction the clipped fur fibers or hairs so as to distribute them wellwithin the action of the blower B which may be of any suitable type.

The brush 8 in practice does not deliver all of the material from therolls 7 to the blower B. In fact, it is not altogether desirable that itshould do this at all times as the feed is not always uniform and even.A considerable amount of the material, therefore, falls by gravitytoward the bottom of the blower B and away from the conveying actionthereof.

The material upon which this class of machine is particularly adapted torun is a mixture such as'is usedfor hats. This mixture is composed of avariety of grades of fiber. Some or all of these grades containimperfections in the way of master hairs, pieces of pelt, dirt and othermatter which must be eliminated from the ultimate fiber mixture which isto be used in hatting. A considerable part, however, of these lighterfibers fall with the imperfections in the way described and the processof feeding has to be repeated in order that all of the fibers of finergrade may be secured.

In my device, the bottom of the blower B is formed as an endlessconveyer 9 running over a roll 20 and suitably driven by a belt 21, fromthe drum 19'. This conveyer in my present invention deposits thematerial upon a second conveyer 10 running on rolls 11 and 12 mounted inany suitable frame and adapted to return the material thus delivered tothe open bottom of the hopper 1. In passing the open bottom of a hopper1 the conveyer 10 runs against an apron 13 adjustably controlled bythumb bolts 14.

The conveyer 10 which refeeds the dropped material back into the openbottom of the hopper 1 is made adjustable through the medium of a roll22 adjustable in a slot in a bracket 22 so that the conveyer 10 may beraised or lowered in relation to the teeth 2 of the conveyer 2 as itpasses under the lower roller 3.- This allows the belt 10 to present theshortest of the fibers or material more uniform my continuous reto beadjusted to take careof coarser material. At the end of the run afterthe finer fibers have been extracted it is desirable to intercept theimperfections prevent their return to the hopper 1. I accomplish this bymeans of a slide 23 set on the back of the hopper 1 adjustable by thumbnuts 24:. When it is desired to intercept the material and prevent itsreturn the slide 23 is dropped down into contact with the surface of theconveyer 10 and the material is packed up and removed.

In the drawings I have shown the hopper 1 and. picker belt 2 as beingseparately mounted in front of the blower B. This construction isadvantageous for the re; duirements of the several operations, but I c 0not limit myself to this separated form, as it is apparent that theconveyer 2 may be extended and arranged at a proper level to deliverdirect to the blower. My conveyer 9 may be constructed to deliver dir ctto the bottom of the hopper 1 if desired.

In operation my device is particularly eflicient on account of itscontinuous opera tion in returning the heavier particles dropped by thebrush 8 in the blower to the hopper 1. It will be seen that thisseparation is due to the action of the blower on the lighter particlesin preference to the heavier particles. In order, therefore, to keep.the mixture of the different grades of turn has a decided advantage overany method of handling. in which the heavier material dropped in theblower B might WVhat I, therefore, claim and desire secure by LettersPatent is :--V

A feeding device for hair, fiber and the r like comprising an openbottom receptacle, 1

a vertical picker therein, a feeding conveyer.

in receptive relation to said picker and a return conveyer efiectlvelydisposed beneath said feeding conveyer and set across-the open bottom ofsaid receptacle to receive any material dropped frond said feedingconveyer and present the same to the open bottom of said receptacle, anda slide di posed in front- ,of said picker and adjustable relative tosaid return .conveyer for regulatmgithe feed of the'return conveyer tosaid picker.

In testimony where f I aflix my signature in presence of two witnesses.7

I HAEL EMMET R AN:

Witnesses: V i

Gopies of this patent may be obtained for five cents eachj by addressingthe f. Commissioner of Batents,

Washington, 6.

